The GAME School expands to LA with new degree, earns praise from ASU alum of Cloud9 Esports
Dani George, who graduated from ASU in 2021, was able to launch her career before graduation thanks to the flexibility The GAME School provided her. Courtesy photo
As The GAME School at Arizona State University launches its new Bachelor of Science in game studio production in downtown Los Angeles, one alum says the expansion feels like a natural next step.
Dani George, now an LA-based video content producer for Cloud9 League of Legends, credits The GAME School with helping launch her career in esports before she graduated from ASU in 2021. As a student, she helped establish ASU's first Esports Lounge — an initiative whose legacy continues today in the new University Gateway Building — and believes the school's expansion to Los Angeles will create even more opportunities for future game creators.
“That is my child,” said George, who pitched the idea of creating a dedicated space for esports and for the ASU esports clubs to The GAME School in 2019. After years of hard work through administrative tasks, fundraising campaigns and physical labor, the original ASU Esports Lounge in Stauffer Communications B on the Tempe campus opened in fall 2021. Just three years later, the space got an upgrade with a lounge designed specifically for esports in the new University Gateway Building, including more than 50 PCs and multiple PlayStation 5 consoles.
“It's been lovely to see how it expanded,” George said. “I think they carried on the legacy very well.”
She said she’s also happy to see how the school she attended has evolved from the School of Arts, Media and Engineering, as it was named when she was student, to becoming The GAME School — games, arts, media and engineering — in 2025 and how it has expanded to Los Angeles, now offering a new degree in downtown LA.
“Seeing how both the faculty and students have enjoyed the change and welcomed gaming and esports into their walls and education plans has been wonderful to see,” George said.
Prior to the name change, the school had a number of students in the school's media arts and sciences program who were interested in joining the game industry, according to Kimberlee Swisher, associate director of undergraduate curriculum and clinical associate professor at The GAME School.
“It just naturally made a lot of sense for us to become the game school while keeping that heart of arts, media and engineering, and that interdisciplinary blend that you really need in the 21st century and in game development and in these technology advanced careers,” Swisher said at the time of the renaming.
George agrees.
“Keeping this school modern and forward thinking is core to the concepts I felt like I learned while I was there,” she said, “and I am hopeful that we will continue to see growth in the coming years.”
'The best school for me’
George, who was born and raised in Kingwood, Texas, said she wanted to explore her creative aspirations beyond Texas after high school. She enrolled at ASU as a film student and tried out Greek life — neither stuck.
“I enjoyed the film program, and I enjoyed being challenged,” George said, but she felt like it didn’t offer the flexibility she was looking for in career options.
After a friend she met through Greek life introduced her to the ASU Esports Club, George finally found her place, her people and her future.
“The Esports Club is where I began taking gaming seriously,” George said. “I saw the opportunities that were in front of me. It helped prepare me by giving me a platform to showcase my skills not only to my peers but also to the online community of esports.”
It was also through the club that she learned about The GAME School, which is part of ASU's Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.
“The school’s flexibility was a super inviting thing because they had so many different tracks,” she said. “I loved how everybody had different interests and passions. And I felt like I was finally surrounded by the same kinds of nerds and weirdos that I was. It was the best school for me that I could have imagined.”
During her third year at ASU, she received a job offer for a full-time position in Dallas after impressing some industry leaders at an event she worked. It was the beginning of the COVID pandemic, and with students transitioning to fully online learning, George had the opportunity to work while finishing her degree.
“The school was flexible and understanding of my different career path and timelines,” she said. “Without their kindness, I am unsure if I would have been able to both start my career and finish my degree at the same time.”
And now, The GAME School is providing even more opportunities and pathways into the industry, including new game degrees and expanding to Los Angeles.
Expanding to LA
In a way, George predicted The GAME School’s recent expansion to Los Angeles.
“I applied to ASU due to its proximity to the West Coast,” she said, “as it felt like it had kind of an LA vibe.”
The GAME School recently announced its new Bachelor of Science in game studio production based at the ASU California Center in downtown Los Angeles is enrolling students. This new degree comes on the heels of a new degree in game design offered at the school’s Tempe location.
Led by creative visionary Stephanie Barish, the game studio production degree in LA prepares graduates to lead creative teams in launching successful games and studios, combining hands-on experience with real-world industry connections and insight. Barish was at the forefront of the indie game industry in 2007 when she founded IndieCade, dubbed by the Los Angeles Times as “The Sundance of Video Games,” as a way to support independent game development. She brings her decades of experience in the gaming industry, plus her industry connections, into the classroom.
“I think it's an incredibly positive move,” George said of the school’s expansion to LA. “It opens the doors for other forms of development of The GAME School too. Entertainment is in the West, whether it's esports, film, influencers or social media, it's all the West Coast.”
She said in the games industry, there are a handful of pockets in the U.S. and overseas, and LA is one of the cornerstones.
“Your best opportunity to be relevant in gaming and esports is Los Angeles.”
More than 200 game companies are based in the LA area, and Barish said students will get to connect with past and present representatives, creators and producers from companies big and small, from Riot Games and Naughty Dog to Thatgamecompany and Akupara games.
George, who is currently based in Los Angeles, hopes to continue supporting the school, and its expansion to LA will allow her to interact with students in the city in addition to the visits she has made to Arizona since graduating.
In 2023 she served on an alumni panel where she shared her experience in the world of esports with current students in Tempe, and this summer she recently returned for a visit during the LCS Spring Finals weekend, the culminating live event for the League Championship Series Spring Split. George attended with her company Cloud9, which held a Rally Point event and industry panel at the ASU Esports Lounge.
ASU — the No. 2 public school for employability
The GAME School helped support George early in her career, and she said it continues to do that for students.
“The school has stayed true to what I think is actually helpful for students in creating opportunities,” George said.
The GAME School is a place for creatives interested in both the gaming industry and in media arts and sciences, where George said students can find opportunities to bolster their creativity and technical skills.
While some flashier parts of the industry can appear volatile for those looking for career opportunities, she said at the heart of it, these are tech companies with roles to be filled.
“Even though it is gaming and esports,” George said, “at the end of the day, you're engineering and developing, creating tools for a gaming experience. I mean, there's so many jobs in tech, and this just happens to be one of them.”
She said it’s not always easy and graduates will of course have to work hard, but there are jobs out there. She cited everything from roles in game design and producing to tax managers and data analytics to engineers and software developers.
“If your kid enjoys gaming, they're not gonna just stop. If you can do coding or something for a game that you enjoy, that is a lovely intersection between your passion and your career, and that's something where I've been very fortunate,” she said. “Be excited that your kid has an opportunity to do something that they love as a career.”
Lisa Rolland and Kim Askew Kramer contributed to this story.
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